Four State University of New York campuses will be getting more locally grown vegetables under a pilot project called Farm to College.

The project is supported by a $99,000 federal agricultu...

» Read more

X

NY college campuses to get more local farm goods

Four State University of New York campuses will be getting more locally grown vegetables under a pilot project called Farm to College.

The project is supported by a $99,000 federal agricultural grant to American Farmland Trust.

The four SUNY campuses are the University of Albany, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oswego and SUNY Oneonta.

Acting state Agriculture Commissioner James Bays says the grant will help American Farmland Trust expand markets for New York farmers while getting more nutritious local products into the state's colleges.

The initiative involves a statewide partnership of agricultural, public health and economic development interests who will work with campus food-service providers to increase their purchases of locally grown produce.

Associated Press

» Social News

Fresh vegetables from just a few miles away will soon be on the menu at Orange County's nursing home.

The 550 acres of Black Dirt fields on the Dagele Brothers Produce farm already help to feed institutions in New York City. They also supply some Orange County school districts.

Now, with the county's first contract with a local grower, Dagele Brothers plans to begin deliveries in mid-November to the Valley View Center for Nursing Care and Rehabilitation in Goshen.

Eventually, said James Burpoe, commissioner of general services, the $75,000, one-year contract could be expanded to include food deliveries to the kitchens of the Orange County Jail and Meals on Wheels.

While it may not seem like a big deal to serve beets or swiss chard or broccoli, they aren't always available from the national distributor supplying Valley View.

"We have to put in a special order, because our vendor now doesn't stock them on a regular basis," said Barbara Maher, Valley View's director of dietary services.

Plans for the county to stock the produce of local growers began two years ago, but were derailed by more pressing needs in the wake of back-to-back tropical storms, said Maire Ullrich, agriculture program leader for the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Middletown.

"This will expand the menu at Valley View," Ullrich predicted. "They have the equipment and staff knowledge to use fresh products."

County Legislature Chairman Michael Pillmeier said supporting local businesses made good economic sense.

"I'm just ecstatic for Orange County that we're going local," Pillmeier said, "and I hope we can increase it."

Dagele Brothers is a supplier for Gargiulo Produce of Hillside, N.J., which sells to New York City institutions. It already counts as customers Orange-Ulster BOCES and school districts including Florida, Goshen, Middletown and Warwick.

Although the growing season's coming to a close, there will be plenty of sweet potatoes, squash, turnips and onions available through the winter months. Dagele Brothers also offers greenhouse vegetables and taps several local farms for additional fruits and vegetables, Maher said. The company also does what's known as value-added agriculture by having some of its produce processed by Farm to Table Co-packers of Kingston. The nursing home will be buying the processed goods as well.

"The key here is that we'll be able to give good service with a high-quality product," said Frank Dagele Jr., who handles sales for the company. "We're farmers, so we know what it should look and taste like."